1 Plus 1 Equals Love
by Ticiatiger
Summary: Emma catches Regina saying I love you to someone else over the phone. Angry, she confronts her wife, thinking she's been cheating.


A:N/ Based on the prompt 'regina teaches online classes, and doesn't know. Emma hears Regina say I love you, and freaks out. Angst/hurt with endgame happy,

Emma exhales, a wet shaky sob demanding to be released from her lungs, but she chokes it back.  
She knows her eyes are puffy, and her nose is runny even though she keeps scrubbing away the tears.  
She had though things were great with her wife, going amazing in fact.  
Sure, they didn't have much money, and life was a bit rocky and tight, but they complimented each other perfectly, and were each other's best friends. That's part of the reason they married. They had already been so good together that loving each other just came so naturally, and Emma had never been happier.

And she thought Regina was too.  
She curses herself, pounding her head against the wall of their shared apartment. She had wondered for weeks what her wife had been upto, sneaking late nights into the second bedroom that she had turned into a study. She thought it was something silly, like when she had gotten addicted to buying crystals, or online poker.

But… She had said it.  
She was sure that she had said 'I love you', to someone in spanish.  
Emma curses the fact that she had never taken much more than introductory spanish, and realizes that not only would it have been something special she could've done for her wife, but it might've even lead to a greater ability to speak to others in the community they lived.

She sighed.  
If their marriage was rocky, and Regina was cheating.  
Then she'd have to do…  
Something. It all depended on Regina. How far had they gone? For how long had Regina felt so emotionally neglected that she felt the need to turn to another love?  
She didn't know, and as Emma made her way back to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner, she found she didn't care.

They couldn't run from this, and they couldn't fight this.

—-

Emma plated the lasagne, no where as good as Regina's but a nice staple and cheap meal they could make and enjoy together. That little intimacy always made her days a little better, but tonight, it only allowed her anxiety and insecurities to fester.

Regina 'hmm'ed, a nice little pleased sound as she sipped at her red wine, pushing her lasagne around on her plate. She didn't look much better than Emma felt. Both too focused on keeping themselves presentable, they didn't know the other was shaking.

Regina sighed. She knew she would have to be the one to break this silence. She only hoped that emma wouldn't be too mad.

"Emma-"  
"Regina-"

They both stopped, and smiled, sad and small. They had always been too much alike, and even now, that was no exception. Emma, swallowed the last of her wine. She'd need that courage.

"Regina," 'give her space to breathe, swan.' "are you unhappy?" 'or rip it all of like a god damn bandaid, that works too.'

Regina paled, and coughed, the warm coffee of her eyes, flashing with alarm.  
"Unhappy? Why? What makes you think that I'm unhappy?"

Emma couldn't tell if the quiver in her voice was from fear and alarm at being caught, or something else.  
She didn't know what she hoped it to be. She sighed. so. this wasn't going to be easy.  
"I heard you, earlier. On the phone I guess, or on video chat. But you said it Regina. You said 'I love you', to someone else. But, I can understand if you're unhappy, and if you want to leave, I-"

Regina jolted upright, her knee nocking into the table, and jostling their drinks. Her fear and alarm overwhelmingly present on her face, from the wide eyes to her pinched brows.  
"Emma, why would I leave? I was doing that for you and I-"

Emma leapt to her feet, getting into regina's face, her eyes wild, and her hands clenched tight.  
"You were cheating on me, for me? How does that even fucking work!"

Regina flinched, fear and hurt flashing over her features.  
"Is… Is that what you think? That I'm unhappy? That I've been cheating?"  
At that, emma began to cry. The fat ugly sobs wrenching free from her throat after having been trapped there for most the afternoon.

"Well why else would you have told someone I love you? You had said it in spanish, Regina. I may not know much, but I know what that sounds like. I thought you said you'd only ever say it to me." She said, her voice getting smaller and smaller the more she spoke. Emma glanced away, her features downcast and small, and began to wring her hands

Regina knew her wife well enough to know when her insecurities and fear were getting the best of her. no matter how much she wanted nothing more to wrap her wife up in her arms, and tell her everything was okay, it wouldn't do any good while she was panicking like this.  
She sighed, a long and tired sound, and pinched the bridge of her nose. The weeks of stress and lying all catching up to her.

"Emma," she began "what you had heard was… I got a job. What you had heard was me teaching an online spanish course, in diction, and proper conjugation of verbs and nouns. I wanted to save up enough money so we could start looking to get a house together. I want more than a two bedroom apartment, Emma. I want a life with you. I haven't been cheating, and as far I can help it, I never will. "

Emma finally looked up to meet her eyes, puffy and wet, but neber as clear.  
"Do you… Do you promise?" Her voice coming out scratchy and small.

Regina chuckled, wrapping her wife up in her arms, the tension leaving the blonde's body as the weight she had finally started to share the burdens she was carrying, nuzzling her nose into the brunette's neck.  
"Oh, duckling. You're not going to get rid of me that easily. You married me, you're stuck with me."

Emma smiled, lifting her face towards regina's. Wanting to nuzzle her nose to her wife's but not wanting to get her messy incase she was still a mess, she settled for touching their noses together, a simple little boop.

Emma smiled, "No, we're stuck with each other. Forever."

Regina chuckled. "I quite like the sound of that."

They both did.


End file.
